Snowed In
by GhostAuthor
Summary: When a snow storm covers Rumpelstiltskin's castle, he and Belle spend some time together. Could it lead to something more?
1. Rumpelstiltskin's Golden Surprise

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

She should have known something would go wrong sooner or later. The first few weeks with Rumpelstiltskin had been strange at first, but they soon fell into a routine of sorts. He always got up before she did but would work in his lab in the tower until she made breakfast. He'd come down and greet her, and she'd serve him his before eating her own. This was done in silence until he was done. He'd thank her for the meal before either heading to his wheel or disappearing before her eyes to who knows where.

When he did this particular feat, she usually didn't see him for a while. Sometimes he'd be gone for a few hours and other times he'd be gone for days. When he disappeared for days, she learned not to worry about him and would raid his library once the castle had been cleaned. Today, however, their routine changed. Belle had looked out the window of the new room Rumpelstiltskin had given her that morning and all she'd seen was white.

Rumpelstiltskin's castle was on a mountain, so she'd gotten used to the sight of snow, but this was more than usual. It looked like it was about the height of a small child and was still coming down. It was soon evident by the frown on his face when he came down that Rumpelstiltskin was not happy about the weather. Belle held in a grin;this would be fun.

"Good morning, Rumpel. The snow looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

"Morning, dearie. As beautiful as it may be, it's a bit difficult to make deals in the snow. It looks like you're stuck with me for a while, Belle."

Belle couldn't hold in a grin this time as she placed his plate in front of him."How ever will I bare your company for so long?"

His trademark grin appeared on his face."You'd be surprised, dearie. I can be quite entertaining...for a price of course."

"Oh really? Just what kind of deal do you have in mind this time, Rum?"

"It's simple really. I shall entertain you for today, but tomorrow you must do the same if the weather is not clear."

"And what happens if it is like this a third time?"

"Then I shall entertain you again and we will exchange days until it is clear. Do we have a deal?"

"On two conditions. No harm will come to either of us each day, and whatever we do can be kept a secret until the person decides to act."

He thought for a moment before extending his hand."Alright."

She shook his hand, and he giggled with a child-like glee that she'd come to love. He did not let go of her hand and instead pulled her to her feet, their breakfast forgotten.

"Whatever you do, don't move,"he said.

"Wha-"Before Belle could finish, she felt air rush past her and realized that they were no longer in the the main hall. Rumpelstiltskin released her hand, and she swayed on her feet a bit.

"The first time can be a bit...intense on the body. It'll pass in a second,"said Rumpelstiltskin, watching her.

"You couldn't have given me a warning?"She asked, slightly irritated.

"Where's the fun in that?"Belle glared at his smirking face before she looked at the door he'd stopped them in front of. They were still in the castle, but she hadn't seen this particular part."Where are we?"

"Underground. Deep beneath the castle."

He opened the door, and Belle gasped. The room was filled with mounds of gold. Most of it was coins but some were golden cups, crowns, and jewelry. It lined the walls and left only small spaces to walk between the mounds of treasure.

"What are we doing here?"

Rumpelstiltskin merely smiled and snapped his fingers. The gold flooded the room and began to spread over the floor until the cold dull stone was replaced with a shiny gold. Rumpelstiltskin then stepped into the room and surprisingly his weight made the floor sag. He bent his knees and took a great leap. He flew high into the air before coming back down and doing it again.

"Well?"He asked in midair."Are you coming to join me?"

Belle laughed and slipped out of her shoes before running to join him. It was soft almost as if she were jumping of a bed. He watched her smile and laugh as she bounced with him and could help but smile himself. After a while, she got an idea.

"I bet I can touch the ceiling before you can."

He growled playfully."We'll see about that."

He had a slight height advantage over her and was going to use it. Rumpelstiltskin gathered as much energy as he could and jumped again. Belle stopped jumping when she didn't see him come down. She looked up and saw him holding on to the grand golden chandelier that lit the room. He legs dangle in the air as he hung by his hands.

"Rumpel!"

He didn't reply and began to swing back and forth. Belle kept staring up at him, entranced by what he was doing. She watched him swing until he'd picked up enough momentum and let go. He flipped twice in the air before landing perfectly on his feet beside her with his arms in the air. Belle clapped for him, and he took a bow.

"That was incredible! How did you do that?"

"Thank you, dearie, and it's easy. A street performer taught me how do this years ago."

"We it was amazing to watch. You're amazing."

If his skin hadn't been it's odd color, she would have seen him blush."So have you been thoroughly entertained? We've been in here for hours."

Her smile told him all he needed to know."Yes. My feet are killing me, and going to bed sounds like heaven."

Rumpelstiltskin smile and took her hand."Off to bed it is then."

This time she was ready and did not stumble when they landed outside her room. He held onto her a few seconds longer than absolutely necessary before pulling away sharply. Belle grinned at the embarrassed look on his face.

"Today was fun. Thank you."

"It was nothing, dearie. I simply honored our deal which you must do tomorrow."

"I know, and I look forward to it. Good night."Without thinking, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek before slipping into her room.

If she'd stayed a few moments longer, Belle would have seen the feared Dark-One grin like a lovestruck schoolboy before strutting to his room with a smile.

_**TBC**_


	2. Belle's Winter Wonderland

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Belle had never been happier to see snow in all her life the next morning. It had stopped snowing, but it still covered the grounds. With a childish laugh that reminded her of Rumpelstiltskin, she headed to make breakfast. She finished quickly, but she then noticed that he hadn't come down yet. Belle immediately knew something was wrong since he wasn't up. She placed his food on a tray and decided to head to his room.

Balancing the tray on her forearm, she opened the door to find Rumpelstiltskin still in bed. The covers were pulled over his head, and she could see his feet pocking out from underneath the mountain of sheets and pillows. Belle placed the tray on the table by his bed and shook him.

"Rumpel. Rum. Wake up."

He rolled over away from her, clutching the covers tighter."Go away."

She tried to open the curtains but found that they had been nailed down as the ones in the main hall had been. Belle heard him giggle and huffed. He was like an annoying child sometimes. Then an idea came.

"Fine. If you want to break our agreement, I don't mind. The snow should be gone tomorrow, so you'll get nothing since you're not getting up."

Belle opened the door to leave, but it snapped shut on its own. She turned back to him and saw him sitting up with the tray in his lap.

"We can have that happening, dearie, now can we? I'll be done and with you in a moment."

She smiled at the sight of him. His hair was even more unruly than it normally was and fell in front of his eyes as he ate. She also noticed that he slept without a shirt. His chest had the same scaled and grayish tone as his face and hands but was nice in spite of it. He wasn't burly like Gaston had been, but he wasn't scrawny either. Her next thought was about what else he did not have on underneath the sheets. She quickly put that thought out of her head but blushed none the less.

Rumpelstiltskin noticed her staring at him but was to busy eating to say anything. All magic came with a price, and the price for the amount he'd used yesterday was most of his energy. He'd collapsed on his bed just as Belle had done after she'd kissed his cheek. That kiss made it worth it though. Her image filled his dreams that night, and he'd slept better than he ever had. He finally wolfed down the last of her delicious cooking and stretched.

"All done, dearie. Now what are we going to do today?"

Belle took the tray and grinned."It's a surprise, but I'll give you a hint. Meet me in the main hall, and you might want to wear something warm."

"As you wish, princess."

* * *

><p>Belle paced in front of the door of the main hall as she waited for Rumpelstiltskin. She turned around and ended up coming face to face with him. She let out a yelp before smacking his arm.<p>

"Don't do that! I'm beginning to think you enjoy scaring me."

He merely let out one of his usual giggles."It is enjoyable every now and then."

She kept glaring and pulled the door open."Come on."

"And just where are you going?"

"_We _are going outside, Rumpel,"she said as they finally stepped onto the snow covered grounds. She took in a breath of the chilly air and smiled as Rumpelstiltskin crossed his arms.

"You're supposed to entertain me. How could this possibly be-"He was cut off when a cold ball of snow hit him directly in the chest. He cleaned it off and looked at Belle. She was laughing at the shocked look on his face."What was that for?"

"Honestly, Rum, don't you have any fun? It's a snowball fight. You're supposed to try and hit me."

"That sounds completely and utterly-SMACK!"Another snowball from Belle hit him directly in the face."You're dead, dearie."

She let out a shriek and backpedaled away from him as he gathered a snowball of his own. His shot hit her in the chest, and he took off after her laughing. Belle wisely fled from him around the grounds. They kept running and pelting each other with snowballs until he tackled her into the snow. They landed under one of the large oak trees covered in snow laughing.

His arms held her down, and even in the cold snow, she felt warm next to him. Rumpelstiltskin looked down at her and immediately regretted it. She was beautiful even with her hair filled with flecks of snow and her coat slightly wet from the melted snow. She was like an angel. Without warning, he kissed her. It wasn't on the cheek as she had done. He kissed her full and hard on the lips. Belle was shocked at first but soon began to kiss back, shocking him. Finally, he pulled away and looked at Belle again. She was obviously shocked by the kiss.

"Belle...I...I don't..."He was fumbling for words. He needed something to say to explain himself.

Belle looked at him with an amused smile and placed her finger to his lips to silence him."I know. I don't understand it either, but we'll figure it out. For now, lets just go inside."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded and without a word sent them to the fireplace in the library. He finally released her and snapped his fingers to start a fire for the both of them. Belle took off her damp coat and sat down next to him in front of the fire. Rumpelstiltskin took off his own coat and placed it around her shoulders after seeing her shiver.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I had a good time today, Belle."

He rarely used her name, so it was odd to hear it come from his lips."So did I."

Rumpelstiltskin saw her shiver again when she finished. He carefully slid over and moved her so that she sat in his lap with his arms around her waist and his coat covering the both them. Belle was startled by the sudden contact but soon snuggled into his chest for warmth. She let out a content sigh before closing her eyes. For a while, he just sat there and enjoyed her closeness until he noticed how slow her breathing had gotten. He looked down and found that she was asleep.

With a small smile, he stood up, ignoring the slight twinge in his right leg, and carried her to her room. He opened the door with magic to keep from dropping her and carefully placed her in bed. Rumpelstiltskin knew she wouldn't be comfortable in wet clothes, so he summoned the soft golden night gown he'd made for her and switched her clothes for it. She looked even more beautiful in it than he'd hoped. After tucking the covers tightly around her to warm her up, he kissed her forehead softly.

"Sweet dreams, dearie."

He watched the smile form on Belle's lips as if she'd heard him before going to his room.

_**FIN**_


End file.
